Welcome to The Mini Shrine

An online club for all classic and modern Mini car owners!

Welcome to The Mini Shrine - The International Mini Owners Club
Please register an account, upload a photo of your ride and make yourself at home.

Mini History in a Nutshell

• August 1959: Introduction of the Austin Seven, Morris Mini-Minor and Morris Mini-Minor DL 2-door saloons, all with transversely mounted 848 cc engine and 4-speed manual gearbox.
• 1960: Introduction of the Austin Seven Countryman and Morris Mini-Minor Traveller 3-door estates, both with 848 cc engine from the saloon models.
• 1961: Introduction of the Austin Seven Super and Morris Mini-Minor Super 2-door saloons.
• 1961: Introduction of the Austin Mini Cooper and Morris Mini Cooper 2-door saloon, both with larger 997 cc 55 bhp (41 kW) engine.
• January 1962: All former Austin Seven models now officially called Austin Mini.
• March 1962: PVC seat covers replaced cloth upholstery on entry level model ("basic Mini").
• 1962: "De Luxe" and "Super" designations discontinued. "Super de Luxe" designation introduced. Modified instrument panel now included oil pressure and water temperature gauges.
• March 1963: Introduction of the Austin Mini Cooper 1071 S and Morris Mini Cooper 1071 S 2-door saloons, both with larger 1071 cc 70 bhp (52 kW) engine.
• 1964: Introduction of the Mini Moke.
• April 1964: Introduction of the Austin and Morris Mini-Cooper 998, Mini-Cooper 970 S and Mini-Cooper 1275 S. 1275 S models have 1275 cc 76 bhp (57 kW) engine. Automatic transmission available as an option for the 998 cc Austin Mini-Cooper 998 and 1275 S. Previous Mini-Cooper 997 and 1071 S models dropped.
• 1965: Mini Cooper 970 S discontinued.
• October 1965: Automatic transmission now available as an option on standard Austin/Morris Mini and Morris Mini SDL.
• October 1967: Mark 2 range launched with facelift and upgraded equipment. Austin Mini range as follows: 850, 1000, Cooper 998 and Cooper 1275 S 2-door saloons and 1000 Countryman 3-door estate. Morris Mini range as follows: 850, 850 SDL, 1000 SDL, Cooper 998 and Cooper 1275 S 2-door saloons and 1000 Traveller 3-door estate. Optional automatic transmission available on all Austin models (except 850) and Morris Mini 1000 SDL saloon.
• September 1968: Manual four speed gear box with synchromesh on all four forward ratios introduced.
• March 1969: Launch of the Morris Mini K an Australian-only model manufactured in the Australian British Motor Corporation factory at Zetland NSW using 80% local content
• October 1969: Separate Austin and Morris badging now merged into Mini 850/Mini 1000 badging. Range reduced to: 850, 1000, Clubman, Cooper S and 1275 GT 2-door coupes and Clubman 3-door estate. Optional automatic transmission available on all except 1275 GT.
• April 1974: A heater became standard equipment on the entry level Mini 850 (having now already been included in the standard specification of the other models for some time).

About this Website

This site was re-launched in August 2010 by Skye Nott as the 9th site in the AutoShrine Network.
All design and content is © Skye Nott & F4 Systems unless otherwise noted.

What's New

Wednesday September 1, 2010

Added print CSS for much better results when printing pages from ASN sites.

Monday August 9, 2010

New Site Launched: Ford First for all Ford owners worldwide.

Thursday July 29, 2010

Added Model Information pages

Thursday July 22, 2010

New Site Launched: Two Stroke Smoke the Vespa and Lambretta Scooter Site

Saturday July 10, 2010

Added social bookmarking links to the bottom of each article
(facebook, twitter, reddit, delicious, etc etc)

Friday July 9, 2010

Fancy new library for rendering bbcode markup in Journal entries.

Thursday July 8, 2010

Fancy new Google custom search (at the bottom of every page) with embedded results.

Thursday July 8, 2010

New Site Launched: MX5 Miata World for all Mazda Roadster owners!

Monday May 17, 2010

Launch day for ASN version 5!

Wednesday May 12, 2010

Upgraded forums to Phorum 5.2.15a for bug fixes and security.

Disclaimer

This website is not in any way connected with, or authorised by, Austin, Rover Group or BMW.

The author, F4 Systems, believes to the best of his knowledge the information contained in this website to be correct, however no warranty is made as to its accuracy. F4 Systems disclaims any liability for financial loss, property damage or injury in connection with use of this information. Any trademarked names are property of their respective trademark holder and are used for identification purposes only. Portions of this website may be copyrighted by other individuals or organizations. The opinions published by members on this website including but not limited to the forums, library and journals do not necessarily state or reflect the views of F4 Systems. Publication on this website should not be considered an endorsement.

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Please note that IE6 is no longer supported and will not display this site correctly.

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